Dutch bass-baritone Henk Neven is one of the most exciting song interpreters of his generation, having made regular appearances at the Wigmore Hall, Concertgebouw and the BBC Proms, whilst being equally at home on the operatic stage. A recipient of the Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship, he has an ongoing recording contract with Onyx and his discs have received critical praise. Neven was a member of the prestigious BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists Scheme and in 2011 received the Dutch Music Prize, the highest honour that the Netherlands Ministry of Culture awards to a classical musician.
This season Neven covers the role of King in the world premiere of George Benjamin’s Lessons in Love and Violence at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. He also appears with the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra with Stravinsky’s Pulcinella and with the Residentieorkest perfoming arias by Mozart. Other appearances include songs and arias by Mahler and Mozart with Orchestre de Picardie.
Last season Neven returned to the UK to reprise the title role Don Giovanni with Northern Ireland Opera. On the concert platform performed Die schöne Müllerin with pianist Imogen Cooper at the Wigmore Hall and with Joseph Middleton at Leeds Lieder, as well as making appearances with the Australian Festival of Chamber Music, the International Cello Festival Biennale in Amsterdam, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Sinfonia Rotterdam and Lausanne Cathedral. He also recorded a programme of Elgar songs with Kathryn Rudge and the BBC Concert Orchestra in collaboration with SOMM Recordings.
His operatic roles include Aronte Armide, title role Hamlet, the title role and Leporello Don Giovanni; Conte Le nozze di Figaro; Phorbas Oedipe; Mercutio Roméo et Juliette; Patrocle Iphiginie en Aulide; Aeneas Dido and Aeneas; Marco Gianni Schicchi; Schaunard La bohème; Morales Carmen; Ben The Telephone and Mr. Gobineau The Medium; Mars Vénus et Adonis; Pollux Castor et Pollux; and Frère Léon St. François d’Assise, staged by Pierre Audi and recorded for DVD by Opus Arte. He has appeared at the Opéra National de Paris, La Monnaie, Berlin Staatsoper, Theater an der Wien, Le Duo de Dijon, Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux, L’Opéra National de Montpellier, Grand Théâtre de Tours, Opéra de Rouen and De Nederlandse Opera.
On the concert platform he has worked with Marin Alsop and Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment at the BBC Proms performing Brahms Requiem, St Matthew Passionwith the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, Beethoven Mass in C with the Philharmonia Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Concertgebouw, BBC National Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Radio Filharmonisch Orkest, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Radio Kamer Filharmonie, Bergen Philharmonic, Combattimento Consort Amsterdam, Noord-Nederlands Orkest, Netherlands Bachvereniging, Vlaams Radio Orkest, L’Orchestre National de France, L’Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Orchestre d’Opéra National de Paris, Staatskapelle Berlin, L’Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, Orchestre National de Lyon, Les Concerts Spirituels and Les Talens Lyriques. He has worked with conductors including Daniel Barenboim, Simon Rattle, Edo de Waart, Jaap van Zweden, Jan Willem de Vriend, Hervé Niquet, Kenneth Montgomery, Joel Levi, Patrick Lange, Armin Jordan, John Nelson, Ed Spanjaard, Marc Minkowski and Christophe Rousset.
An outstanding recitalist, he is a regular guest of the Wigmore Hall, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and at the NTR ZaterdagMatinee series. He has performed in the Festival Oude Muziek in Utrecht, Operadagen Rotterdam and the Gergiev Festival. Past highlights include debuts at the City of London Festival and Cheltenham Festival; performances for the BBC Proms; and recitals for La Monnaie in Brussels, Amsterdam’s Beurs van Berlage and Musée d’Orsay in Paris.
Henk Neven started recording for Onyx Records in 2011, when his Gramophone-nominated debut album Auf einer Burg was received with the highest acclaim. In 2012, Onyx Records released his second album, The Sea on which he performs songs by Debussy, Fauré and Schubert.
Photography: Tessa Posthuma de Boer
Design: Wilgehof + Sodaar
